PARISH COUNCIL NEWS & MESSAGES – October 2023

The Parish Council met three times in September 2023, twice mainly to discuss and plan well for the Holy Cross Feast Celebration (which was organised on the occasion of the feast of our Parish) and once towards the end of the month, to plan for the Parish Day which is to be organised in due course in accordance with the Statutes of the Parish Council.  

The Feast of the Exultation of the Cross which was celebrated on the Saturday evening, 16 September 2023, with the Holy Eucharist presided by our Patriarchal Vicar Father Bruno Varriano and the procession of the Cross, were followed by the Parish Feast Celebration in the Parish Gardens. Open to everyone, it was an occasion of great joy for the whole parish coming together for the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, to eat, drink, play and dance. The entertainment included, for the first time, teaching of dances and playing of games from different nations, as well as a game of bingo with four prizes.  We thank everyone for their valuable contribution also to the success the Parish Feast Celebration proved to be. 

The Parish Day, to be organised in due course, as per the Statutes of the Parish Council, will be once more an occasion for the members of the Parish Council to give an account presenting their work over the time of their service. After many years of faithful service on the Parish Council, the members Monique Burston (Vice Chair), Berna Koutsidou (Secretary), Elena Christofi (Treasurer), Aniceta Tarcuan (Assistant Tresurer) as well as the undersigned, have a truly endless list of tasks performed, actions, initiatives and issues they dealt with, to present – a brief note of the presentation will also be uploaded on the Holy Cross Parish website, for everyone to read.  

At the same time, we are grateful, above all, for the help of the Lord we experienced, each step of the way over these years, as the time has come for us, faithful to the Statutes, to move on with the grace of the Lord, wishing also that appropriate others may now follow, to work well on the Parish Council too. 

A very precious and impressive icon will be given by us to the Holy Cross Church as a gift.

Personally, as Chairman, I also thank wholeheartedly all of you, for your support over these years, asking you to pray for us, our Parish and our Church.  We trust unconditionally in the mercy of the Risen Lord and the intercession of the Virgin Mary, all the saints and all the angels and the holy souls, for us and our loved ones! 

For our parish, our priests and religious, all the families and faithful young and old, we pray “May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord give you His Peace, may His face shine upon you”.  May He shower upon each one of us abundant graces, His Spirit and His holy gifts always! Pray for us!

Akis Hjiiossif
(Chairman of the Parish Council – email: holcrossparishcouncil@yahoo.com)